1. Warm Up:
Describe a time in your life when it was beneficial to compromise with someone else. Write 3-5 sentences describing what happened!

2. Today’s Question:
How did members of the Constitutional Convention compromise on important issues?

3. Agenda: Class Discussion/Notes: Compromises at the Convention
Prepare for Convention

5. At the Convention, delegates agreed that there would be 3 branches of government:
Executive Branch: enforces the laws; president Judicial Branch: interprets the laws; supreme court Legislative Branch: makes the laws; representatives from each state are sent to Congress

6. Compromises at the Convention:
We will look at a slide and discuss one issue delegates discussed at the Constitutional Convention.
You will have 5 minutes to read more about this issue and decide how you would vote.
We will discuss the question and fill in our notes on how the delegates compromised.

8. How many delegates should each state send to the legislature?
Virginia Plan: Representation based on population New Jersey Plan: Each state will have the same number of representatives

11. Should slaves count as part of a state’s population?
Northern States: Slaves should not count as part of a state’s population Southern States: Slaves should count as a part of a state’s population

14. Should the slave trade continue
Should the slave trade continue? Should runaway slaves be sent back to their owners?
Northern states: slave trade should not continue, runaway slaves who reach a free state should be considered free.
Southern states: slave trade should continue, runaway slaves who reach a free state should be sent back to their owners.

16. Constitutional Convention:
Now, we will prepare for a Constitutional Convention. At our convention, we will invite several groups that were not invited to the original convention.
We will divide into these seven social groups, and prepare to debate two burning questions:
Should slavery be abolished?
Who should have the right to vote?

17. Important Vocab:
Suffrage: The right to vote. Abolition: The act of getting rid of something (slavery)

18. Groups invited to our convention:
Free African Americans
Southern planation owners
Indentured Servants
White women
Slaves
Iroquois
Northern merchants and bankers

19. What does your social group believe?
Read the information about your group OUT LOUD.
Write your group’s position for each question.
Should slavery be abolished?
Who should have the right to vote?
Come up with three arguments to support your positions.

20. Creating your arguments:
Write your group’s position for each question.
Should slavery be abolished?
Who should have the right to vote?
Come up with three arguments to support your positions.

21. Convention Speeches:
Imagine the year is 1787 and the Constitutional Convention is about to begin. You have been invited to the convention to represent the viewpoint of your social group (Enslaved African Americans, White Women, Free African Americans, Southern Planation Owners, Northern Merchants, Indentured Servants, Native Americans). Your job is to write a speech representing your group’s views on suffrage and abolition.